Take the pool down for winter or leave up?

[cnk]

My sister has one of the AG pools from Walmart. It is one of the blue ones with the little air filled ring around the top. She is wondering if it would be better to take it down or leave it up through the winter.

[jonv112]

Where does your sister live? If the weather goes below freezing, then you should take it down. If it is always a few degrees above freezing, it should be ok for the winter. If anything happens it is fairly cheap to buy a new one.

[cnk]

She lives in Oklahoma. It does freeze here.

[ssweaser]

I live in the heart of TX and left mine up for 2 winters. The only problem I had was with keeping the cover on it as the ring tends to deflate in the cold. Also, on the nights it gets below freezing, I had to run my pump to keep it from freezing over.

If it's a fairly small pool, personally, I'd take it down. It's less hassle that way. I had an 18 x 48, so I just left it up.

This year I have an 18 x 48 metal frame...still debating on leaving it up. I found that leaving it means I have to watch for freezing temps on the pump, but that it's also hard on the pump hoses and they are expensive to replace through Intex.

Update 10/29/06: So far so good. The only problem is the cover doesn't want to stay on. Intex claims you're supposed to pull it tight across the top so it doesn't touch the water. I don't know what they're smoking, but it's not possible to do that with this cover. Wrapped a rope around the outside of it to hold it down better as the draw string won't hold it no matter how tight you tie it. It lasted through 2 rain storms and several windy days before the 45 mph day pulled it into the pool. Can't say it's great, but it's better than last year with the Easy Set.

[Kimrst]

My frame pool is tucked into the basement for the winter now. But when we were taking the pool down we found a small scrape like spot on the bottem that will have to be patched before setting it up next spring. I noticed this year the tarp was in bad shape too from the grass trying to get thru the sand and dirt. (We removed the grass and put down sand the first year.) Maybe with some luck I can find a nice cheep "real" above the ground pool on ebay this spring and move up a notch.

Does anyone treat the soil/sand with grass killer before setting up their pools? Do you always replace the ground cloth every year? Kimrst

[ssweaser]

I put down visquene (heavy black plastic barrier) available at Home Depot then put my tarp on top of that. No problems so far. Filled in around the pool with bark and put down pavers to create a psuedo deck pad. Also built a huge coat rack w/ big spike-like nails to hold swim gear and towels when swimming.

My frame pool is tucked into the basement for the winter now. But when we were taking the pool down we found a small scrape like spot on the bottem that will have to be patched before setting it up next spring. I noticed this year the tarp was in bad shape too from the grass trying to get thru the sand and dirt. (We removed the grass and put down sand the first year.) Maybe with some luck I can find a nice cheep "real" above the ground pool on ebay this spring and move up a notch.

Does anyone treat the soil/sand with grass killer before setting up their pools? Do you always replace the ground cloth every year? Kimrst

[Kimrst]

I remember that kind of pool cover. I think we used to use a small donut floaty between the water and the cover. It was a PITA to keep on. I got a solar cover that just floats on the water this last year. Its kind of a pain too, but better than the intex cover. Glad to hear your pool is still up and doing well. Its been in the high 50*'s here this week, very unusal for Michigan at Thanksgiving. Last year we had our first major snow storm on Thankgiving. I'll take the sun and warmer weather any day. They perdict rain and snow combinations this weekend. I'm not looking forward to sliding into work.:-( Kimrst

[ssweaser]

I remember that kind of pool cover. I think we used to use a small donut floaty between the water and the cover. It was a PITA to keep on. I got a solar cover that just floats on the water this last year. Its kind of a pain too, but better than the intex cover. Glad to hear your pool is still up and doing well. Its been in the high 50*'s here this week, very unusal for Michigan at Thanksgiving. Last year we had our first major snow storm on Thankgiving. I'll take the sun and warmer weather any day. They perdict rain and snow combinations this weekend. I'm not looking forward to sliding into work.:-( Kimrst

Well, we just experienced our first snow storm of this winter. The cover stayed on all last night and into the day today, but it fell in during the afternoon. Guess the freezing rain and snow were too much for it. I think I'll just leave the cover off at this point. The bottom is mucky anyway and will require a vacuum to waste in the spring anyhow.

[CarlD]

I always considered the tarp and cover to be consumables--get 2 years out of them and replace them.

I think it's a bad idea to leave an inflatable up all winter--you are just BEGGING to shorten its life.

I had a deep bed of rubble and sand when I had an inflatable, and had little trouble with stuff under the sand--I would have to wash the tarp at season's end. The plastic, though is a good idea--there's also landscaper's cloth, too.

We used an inflatable for a number of years and really enjoyed it. On a hot summer's day, the water is just as wet! Sitting in a floating lounge, with a cool drink and the radio on, it feels just as nice as a big pool!